Marie Meglic

I'm curious about dirt floors and how they hold up and hold heat in a cold climate.

1)  If there is good heat in a room that has a hardwood floor built over hard-packed soil, but is not insulated, will the floor be like ice in a northern winter like it is for a cement floor?  The heat is coming through the ducts in the ceilling of the room. 

I'm curious as to whether such a space could be used for movement classes with bare feet or lying on the floor in the winter.  I'm also curious in a similar vein, if a yurt were on a raised floor over packed earth rather than on a platform. 

2)  Are there any issues that I should be aware of?  It seems to be mold free and dry, but I'm not sure about insect/bug issues, etc.

Please share if you are experienced with this type of floor.
Thank you!

KapKarl wrote:
Up here in the NW, in the area of the St. Croix valley, we're moving slowly toward toward self-sufficient sustainability.  Many interesting projects going on in and around Polk County.

Please do share if you hear of anything going on in Polk Co. as I live there too.

Cheers!

Thanks Blackbird.  Just write a note here when you get it and I'll see where I'm at then. 

Good luck!

Hi,
I just thought I'd put out an idea that I had.  I'm interested in permaculture, but am finishing graduate school, working for myself, and need to pay off loans at the same time I'm trying to save and find some land.  Given I may shift a little with my work and location, I thought an option might be to live on someone else's land who is interested in permaculture for a short time until I have more direction.

I currently live near the twin cities in Wisconsin and also spend a fair amount of time around Duluth/Superior (Minnesota/Wisconsin).  If anyone is interested or knows of someone interested in having someone live in a tiny house or yurt or something on their land, please let me know. 

I'm very quiet, work a good deal from home and will need good electricity and internet service.  Other than that, I'm open to what is necessary to adapt.

Thank you so much for sharing the links Ludi Ludi. I love the worm farm under the deck idea!  I expect, I would only be able to have a low deck and put the cistern into the earth so the worms can get below the frost level in the winter here.  I think the frost line is about 4 feet down, so I might have to dig about 6-8 feet down. 

I also liked the solviva website's approach with biofiltering.  I have a lot of research ahead of me, but it seems that I could easily implement a very basic system and improve it as I could afford it.

  I love the bathtub filtering idea.  That sounds great!  Also, I could see it working to have bucket built into the floor that I could lift out and take outside to filter or to the green house when it is built.  It would be difficult to raise the shower with ceiling height issues in a a smaller home, but if I kept the shower in the sauna at the back of a greenhouse, then I could build it up and just catch/filter it beneath.

I'm not worried about the soap that I use being unsafe as I'm careful about that.  I'm more worried of just getting the soil out of balance if it is always being watered with something where the pH is not neutral or something.    But thank you for all your suggestions.  It helps me muddle through the possibilities.

Okay, everyone.  I have been doing the baking soda wash and vinegar rinse all week.  My hair honestly looks no different than when I used shampoo and I have had no trouble combing tangles out.  Fascinating.  Perhaps, since I swim and rinse it daily with these methods, I'm not having trouble with any build-up at all.  Yay!  Why bother with the shampoo.

hm....thank you "thecheapguy."  I'll have to look into this when it gets closer to build time possibility.  I can really see how filtering it after the shower drain in a very simple way could be set up in a pretty basic manner, rather than need to be a costly investment.

I'm not sure about salt water, but a little internet research seems to bring up that either aspirin made into a paste in water or baking soda in water will remove the chlorine from your hair. 

I would think that salt water and sun might dry your hair out, so you might want to try a couple washes with baking soda to get the gunk out.....and maybe a less toxic clarifying shampoo if it doesn't work.  And then follow with the vinegar rinse.  In addition,  I just found some information on using glycerine to help retain moisture in one's hair I haven't tried it yet. 

I actually tried the baking soda wash and vinegar rinse today and it seemed to work surprisingly well after the pool.  I'll let you know what happens in a couple of weeks, however!

Recipes I've found are below:



Hair Remedy Ingredients:
- 1 cup Distilled Water (or boiled water)
- 1 cup Vegetable Glycerin
How to Make Hair Leave-In Spray:
Looking for a quick boost to add some instant shine to your dull hair? This quick home remedy will leave your hair shiny and healthy.
1. Mix together the water and vegetable glycerin.
2. Pour the mixture into a spray bottle.
3. Spray your hair as needed.
Pantry Tip:
Add lavender essential oil or other scented oils to make your hair smell amazing too!
http://www.pantryspa.com/beauty-remedies/hair-remedies/homemade-shine-boosting-hair-leave-in-spray-hair-home-remedy/



Simple Baking Soda and Vinegar Shampoo
Mix up 1 part Baking Soda to 5 parts water. It's best to mix this before hand, and keep it in an old shampoo bottle.  Mix 1 part Apple Cider Vinegar (Organic White Vinegar is fine, too) with 8 parts water. You can add some essential oils or herbs for a nice smell.  Keep this mixture separate from the Baking Soda mixture.

Apply the Baking Soda mixture first. Shake well, and apply this to your scalp.  Don't worry about getting it into the rest of your hair, this is just for your roots.  Leave this in for a minute or two, and then rinse.

Apply the Vinegar mixture to your hair itself, and leave in for about 15 seconds.  Rinse completely, and you are all done!

I've wanted to go to no shampoo, but I swim in a chlorine pool almost daily and want to make sure I get the chlorine out of my hair and off my skin.  Does anyone have experience with this or some information that can help neutralize the chlorine.  I think it will be a while before they change to a salt-water pool where I swim.  (They do have solar water heat, however!)

Also, I have really fine hair, but a lot of it.  So, gets matted instantly and I can't imagine trying to comb it without a little condition.  Okay, I admit, I've tried no conditioner and it takes forever with a lot of hair loss with all the knots!